gun control
March 6, 2013 — John Hinderaker
This is truly shocking. A young woman named Amanda Collins mustered the courage to testify before a Colorado legislative committee on that state’s proposed gun ban legislation. Ms. Collins testified in opposition to a blanket ban on guns on college campuses, and described her own rape. She had a permit to carry a pistol but was unarmed when she was attacked. Ms. Collins was treated sensitively by Republicans on the
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March 4, 2013 — Steven Hayward
And then there are the stories you read that go beyond our usual category of mere ineptitude. Such as the Tabernacle Baptist Church in St. Louis that wants to fight gun violence by holding . . . a toy gun buyback. Just a hunch here: I’ll bet they don’t sing “Onward Christian Soldiers” in that congregation. The New York Times announced quietly on Friday afternoon at 5 pm (let’s see.
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March 3, 2013 — John Hinderaker
I went shooting this afternoon with a friend from church. It was the second time we have gone to the range together; the first time, he said that he hadn’t fired a handgun in something like 30 years. But he shot beautifully; I attribute that to the fact that he is a dentist, which means that his hands are both strong and trained to be steady. Or maybe he is
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March 2, 2013 — John Hinderaker
The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported yesterday that the State of Minnesota issued 31,657 permits to carry handguns in 2012, a record number. No surprise there. The Strib puts that number in the context of the current debate over gun control, and concludes with these statistics, presented without comment: Minnesota’s permit holders have committed at least 1,159 crimes since 2003, including 114 in which a gun was used, according to the
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February 28, 2013 — John Hinderaker
Specifically, to make sure that Joe Biden never, ever gets his hands on a firearm. Biden loves shotguns–nothing wrong with that, but it appears that every time he fires one, somebody’s life is in danger. Here is the latest: I did one of these town-hall meetings on the Internet and one guy said, “Well, what happens when the end days come? What happens when there’s the earthquake? I live in
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February 25, 2013 — John Hinderaker
Texas Congressman Steve Stockman has blown the whistle on President Obama’s anti-gun Twitter campaign. Stockman says that hardly any of Obama’s anti-gun tweets come from actual human beings, while most are computer-generated spam: “Obama’s anti-gun campaign is a fraud,” Stockman said. … Stockman said that in response to Obama’s call for people to tweet their congressman in support of gun control legislation, he received just 16 tweets. But he said
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February 23, 2013 — John Hinderaker
President Obama has put Joe Biden in charge of his anti-gun initiatives. In another administration, you might assume that means Biden knows something about guns. In this administration, no such luck. Biden has drawn a lot of criticism for his advice to women who think someone may be trying to break into their house. Don’t buy an AR-15, buy a double-barreled shotgun! Biden says he told his wife Jill (at
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February 21, 2013 — John Hinderaker
To further his gun-ban efforts, President Obama is using his permanent campaign organization, Organizing For Action, to solicit stories about “gun violence.” Some of the stories are no doubt sincere, some–since they are anonymous–are likely fabricated, and some are merely political, like this one from “Keith K.”: As a high school teacher, my students ask me why their lives are not as important as an NRA money. “that’s just the
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February 20, 2013 — John Hinderaker
In our republican form of government, politicians are not our rulers, they are our employees. That goes, too, for the bureaucrats who staff the many federal agencies. But these days, it seems clear that many politicians, and perhaps even more bureaucrats, have lost track of who is working for whom. To cite just one of many examples, President Obama and Congressional Democrats would not have rammed Obamacare through Congress against
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February 19, 2013 — John Hinderaker
The Democrats now control all of the levers of power in Minnesota, so when the national Democratic Party made its gun control push after Newtown, Minnesota Democrats followed suit. Legislation to ban a random selection of semiautomatic rifles and average-capacity magazines for all firearms was introduced here, largely mirroring gun control measures at the federal level and elsewhere. Given the Democrats’ control over both the legislature and the governor’s office,
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February 16, 2013 — John Hinderaker
That isn’t quite what he said, of course. Rather, the topic was guns, and the occasion was the president’s Google Plus “Fireside Hangout” on Thursday: Obama was asked why he favored a ban on assault weapons, which account for only a small percentage of gun deaths, as opposed to handguns, which are responsible for the majority. “I actually don’t think we should ban handguns,” Obama said. “But keep in mind
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February 14, 2013 — John Hinderaker
One month ago, in response to the administration’s gun control initiatives, the NRA produced an ad that called President Obama an “elitist hypocrite” because he sends his children to a school that is protected by armed guards, while insisting that your children be gun-free, i.e., defenseless. I wrote about that ad, which I thought was good, effective and fair, here. The ad was widely denounced, including by some Republicans, for
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February 12, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
Yesterday, I speculated that President Obama will use his state of the union speech primarily to prepare the battle field for upcoming fights pertaining to the budget. With the sequester looming and a debt-ceiling deadline not far behind, Obama will want to re-introduce tax increases into the debt reduction debate (it had occupied the prime spot in that debate until the end of 2012). In that way, he can shed
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February 6, 2013 — John Hinderaker
Will Floyd Corkins become the poster boy for gun control? He certainly deserves the honor. Corkins pled guilty today to firearms, terrorism and assault charges in Washington, D.C. Corkins shot and wounded one man in a terrorist attack last August, but he admitted in court that he had intended to kill as many as possible. He was carrying a loaded 9 mm handgun and had in his possession two additional
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February 4, 2013 — John Hinderaker
President Obama passed through Minneapolis today to push his gun control agenda. He met with local law enforcement officers, and delivered a photo-op speech in front of a backdrop of uniformed law enforcement personnel. The speech, while brief, was marked by Obama’s trademark incoherence. Everything is “reasonable,” and “common sense,” and favored by pretty much everyone. And yet, if you actually listen to what he says, it makes no sense
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February 3, 2013 — John Hinderaker
Barack Obama is coming to Minneapolis tomorrow to talk guns, his first such foray since he called for increased gun control after the Sandy Hook massacre. Timed, presumably, to coincide with his appearance, Democrats in Minnesota’s legislature have introduced several draconian gun control measures. I wrote here about one of these statutes, which would ban, and provide for confiscation of, all average-sized magazines. Liberals often ridicule gun owners’ fears that
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February 3, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
The two major non-budgetary legislative battles on the horizon pertain to immigration and guns. Both struggles will be bitter and divisive. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, considering the stakes. However, the divisions in Washington will obscure the fact that a consensus exists, or can fairly easily be built, on both issues. On immigration, conservatives want improved border security. Liberals say they support improved border security but demand, as its
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